PREFACE My mother tongue is Assamese. Having lived in the USA for almost five decades, I always felt the need for a book complete in all aspects about the Assamese language, yet concize and simple enough for a non-Assamese speaker to learn the language with a relative ease. When my children were growing up in the USA in an entirely English environment, my busy professional career and extensive travel on business did not allow me the time to transfer what I knew about my mother tongue. There was no school to teach Assamese either. Unfortunately, I don’t know of any school or university even today that offers Assamese language classes in the US or any other English speaking countries. Our two daughters eventually learnt on their own and from their exposure to the language from occasional visits to Assam, India to be able to communicate with their grandparents. Now they are trying to transfer their knowledge to their children, the kind of effort I should have made with our daughters. So, now after my retirement, I decided to take on this project of writing this book to be able to help anyone interested in learning the language. Obviously, the biggest encouragement came from our older daughter as she was looking for material to teach Assamese to her children. This book is written for students starting Assamese for the first time as adults, young adults and for potential teachers or parents who may be able to use this as a text to teach Assamese to their students or children. I also believe that this book can be used as a self-taught handbook as it is written in English explaining Assamese alphabet, pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, composition, spelling, etc. Worksheets are provided at the end for topics learnt along the way. The lessons gradually build on previously learnt concept. The book introduces the student to a simple system by which reader may gain a basic understanding of the structure of the language. By the end of the book, one should be able to read simple stories that are included for practice. The Appendix section provides a small dictionary, Assamese antonyms, synonyms, idioms, and proverbs that readers may find valuable. Many of the Appendix information is collected from various sources in the internet available to public. In preparing this book, I have spent considerable amount of time researching and consulting other books, Assamese wikipedia, various links and websites that are readily available in different aspects of the language. Without such information, it would have been extremely difficult to create such a concize handbook covering all topics briefly. These references are included in the reference section. Although I have made every effort to insure accuracy of this text, I will appreciate if readers would advise of any errors, omissions, or provide suggestions for improvement. Lohit Datta-Barua, Ph.D. December, 2020
